Jay Harvey Upstage

Rudresh Mahanthappa in his shiny blazer on Election  Day  Between his first visit here and his recorded Hero Trio outing, which was nearly buried by the pandemic, Rudresh Mahanthappa had plenty of repertoire to draw upon when he brought the Hero Trio back to town Tuesday for a vigorous set at the Jazz Kitchen. We heard some new things on this visit, but it was fitting to have him and his men revisit a favorite Charlie Parker original, "Red Cross," to start the set. He unloaded his forceful sound and returned unpredictably to the theme again and again, releasing florid episodes of improvisation in between, along with his bandmates' soloing in the same spirit.  The alto saxophonist of Indian-American heritage, who directs the jazz program at Princeton University as his home base, is known for his breadth of material upon which to put his own stamp. For many years, his assistants in this long-range project have been bassist Francois Moutin and drummer Rudy Royston — both his...

It's not deliberately quirky to focus on the most modest piece in the Yefim Bronfman was last hereabouts with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. program Yefim Bronfman offered Friday night at the Payne & Mencias Palladium, despite its thundering companion on the second half of the pianist's solo recital, Beethoven's "Appassionata" Sonata, op. 57. That's because Robert Schumann's "Arabesque," op. 18, displayed the recitalist's deliberately understated lyrical gift. The profile of melodic inspiration here and throughout the recital was vivid without excessive insistence.  In "Arabesque,"  there was steady attention to gathering forces, sunny though they are in expressing what has been called the Eusebius side of the composer's character. It's as if Bronfman was sensitive to a borderline bipolar personality collecting his thoughts even in miniature and displaying Schumann's artistic integrity at its best. This whole...

 There was no riotous behavior in Friday night's Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra concert, despite a guest conductor's hearty hailing of what seemed to him to be "a party audience," and ending his brief remarks before the concert's second half with the invitation to "throw things or whatever."  Richard Egarr is making his ISO debut. Richard Egarr,  principal guest conductor of the Residentie Orkest in the Hague, Netherlands, is sharing the stage this weekend with another guest artist who presents himself in unusual fashion: pianist-composer Conrad Tao. The Illinois native  invited no rowdiness, but he proved to be a lively attraction to an enthusiastic, rather small audience at the final Classical Series concert of 2026 in Hilbert Circle Theatre. Tao performed with intense focus on the task at hand, whether it was his own composition "The Hand" or the work that inspired it, Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major, op. 15. His concert at...

  Serious couple spat: Billy and Sara Extraordinary rapport between a playwright and a theater artistic director accounts for the special stature of a world premiere that opened Thursday night at the Phoenix Theatre Cultural Centre. Chris Saunders, artistic director of American Lives Theatre , has long admired the work of Lucy Thurber, and that admiration bore fruit in the offer to write a play for ALT centered on Indianapolis, including input into selection of a cast that would shape the creative process.  Saunders of course directed this first-ever production, which was saved as I saw it from looking overpolished and tidy by superb acting in the wild life paths followed by each of the characters.  Thus, a perfectly realized premiere stayed fresh and surprising over its Luke looks on as James calms Candace. 70-minute span. Besides, the playwright's reported delight in getting acquainted with Indianapolis plays an essential role in "The Meridian Cafe," along with the sho...

Adam Golka, Matthew Kraemer and ICO revel in top-flight Mozart. Whatever Shakespeare's  characters put their minds and their voices to, they likely had something lasting to say upon any subject.  The fact that we don't know what William Shakespeare felt or said personally about anything, from the spotty biographical evidence available to us, didn't prevent such questionable delight as "Shakespeare in Love" generated  a generation ago — a costume rom-com allowing us to wallow in the young Bard's world as a theater careerist  hungry for patronage, creative encouragement, and, on the side, romantic success.  For the sake of a believable themed program to open its season, the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra came up with a more prudent paraphrase of that 1999 movie's title. So Matthew Kraemer and his ensemble began the season delivering "Shakespeare and Love."  That allowed for a little separation, which invited  Adam Golka' s solo appearance in a...

Mahler on ship back to Europe, 1911, near the end of his death-haunted life Veteran of two runs through the American Piano Awards and victorious the second time last year, Michael Davidman is the guest soloist this weekend with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, anchoring the concert's first half on Beethoven before the ensemble expands and takes on extra cargo for Mahler's  Symphony No. 1 in D major.  There was lots of glory in its performance Friday night at Hilbert Circle Theatre, right through to the eight horns standing and pouring extra energy into the concluding measures. That recalled the similar display in  the ISO's Mahler Sixth last spring, crowning music director Jun M ä rkl' s affinity for the late-Romantic composer.  But first to the program's music of more scaled-back energy, reliant on a transformative composer's roots in the Classical period of Mozart and Haydn. A compact account of Beethoven's rarely indulged dramatic flair opened the ...